WARNING: The html is all fucked up on this thing and therefore the format is funky and it is driving me insane, but the more I fuck with it, the worse it gets. Ack! But happy reading, anyway!
Waaaaaay back in the Spring, someone posed the bright idea of the Counselors taking a road trip to visit college campuses in Southern California.
Somehow this idea morphed into this huge being that included 8 people and 17 colleges in 4 days.
Let me say that again.
8 people.
17 colleges.
4 days.
Day 1—SundayEveryone was on time to the appointed meeting place (Yay!). 6 of us were meeting together and then meeting up with the other 2 at our first stop, Fresno State. Let me stop here to make a few points.
- I get seriously carsick regardless of who’s driving, where I’m sitting, where we’re going, how much I’ve eaten or what I’m doing. Basically if I’m not driving, it’s a problem. It’s a control thing. (Yes, I know I have issues.)
- I have to pee. All. The. Time.
- The passenger directly to my left has one of the loudest natural speaking voices on the planet.
- I have back issues. So sitting in a car for 6 hour stretches (or anything more than across town) is probably not the best and brightest thing f or me to do. Which is why the students who stumbled onto the Fresno State campus the day after the Big Game now know me as the weird lady doing yoga poses by the Rose Garden.
- I abhor the heat. And anything above about 77 degrees is considered heat. Especially when I’m doing anything physically demanding. Like breathing.
- The folks on this trip with me are all my colleagues, so I do have a professional relationship with them. However, they also run the gamut from people I adore, to those who’s name I won’t remember in 5 years and won’t much care either.
So as mentioned, first stop was CSU, Fresno, which besides the yoga doing on my part, was a virtual dead zone (perhaps due to the aforementioned Big Game). We could buy no souvenirs, not even a snack that didn’t come from a vending machine. (But I did find out the definition of enology). Funnily enough, if we’d waited around another 10 minutes, we could have bowled a few frames at the on-campus bowling alley. Trust me, Sac State didn’t have this shit.
Anyway, after an abbreviated drive around and walk through, we met up with the other 2, and decided to hit up the apparel store nearby before grabbing lunch. The apparel store was closed (Boo), so we headed to The Doghouse Grill, which was really good (Yay!) and had no less than 10 gigantic flat screens positioned around the joint. After hitting the Starbucks, we headed to Pasadena. After a potty break and another Starbucks stop at the Grapevine, we arrived at Cal Tech, where we had a private tour from my colleague's nephew, who is a student there. There are a number of Nobel Prize winners who teach there. I felt dumb just stepping foot on the campus (Boo).
Cal Tech is the MIT of the West Coast. But better.
We checked into the Embassy Suites (Yay!) in Arcadia and headed for dinner at the Souplantation (Think Fresh Choice. But better. (Another Yay!)) We sorted out the roommate situation and I ended up rooming with a teacher and basically the person who is my boss. Who, don’t get me wrong, is one of those folks on the People I Adore end of the spectrum, but…well…I did not feel 100% comfy with that, only because I didn’t feel like I could let my hair down as much as if I had roomed with some of the others. How exactly does one accidentally rip a while-you-were-sleeping fart, or snore to the high heavens when you’re boss is sleeping in the next rack? (Boo x 3; one for every night we roomed together).
Day 2–Monday
Had to leave by 8:00 a.m., which means getting up pretty early in order to get some bathroom time. (Boo). There was a yummy, free breakfast that included made-to-order omelets (Yay!) and all kinds of other deliciousness. On to Asuza Pacific University, which was beautiful (Yay!), but was fucking hot (my iPhone claimed it was 71 degrees at 9 a.m., but we all called Bullshit) (Boo).
One of my colleagues originally painted this mural. It has since been restored. But that's still cool.
Moving on to the Claremont Colleges, which is a unique consortium of 7 colleges, with 5 undergraduate campuses, including one of the few all-female campuses in the country, and 2 graduate schools. We saw all of them and it was still too goddamned hot (Boo x 7). I was slightly appeased by a great pizza lunch at Pizza N Such in downtown Claremont (Yay!).
Harvey Mudd is considered the Ivy League of the West Coast
Scripps is the all-female school. So no boys allowed in this pic.
I haven't the foggiest as to what the hell this is, but it was in the lounge of the Women's Restroom in the Claremont Colleges Bookstore and I laughed my ass off and felt it deserved a picture.
No pictures because by then I was so fucking uncomfortable, I couldn't be bothered to pull my camera out of my purse.
Onward to UCLA, which is a ginormous, hilly campus that looks like a movie set. I had no idea that that campus was so huge. And we walked the majority of it (Boo). But it was considerably cooler in L.A. (Yay!) Dinner in Westwood at a place called Noodle Planet. Delish, with a gigantic menu and an incredibly attentive staff (Yay!). Moving on to Carpenteria to stay at the Holiday Inn Express, which was no where near as nice as the Embassy Suites from the previous night (Half a Boo, but only because it was my night to actually have a bed and not the pull out).
This is a fountain on the UCLA campus known as the Inverted Toilet
This is Royce Hall, which is often used in movies and photos. Can you say 'fucking gorgeous'?
It just goes on for-evvvverrr
Careful, he might rip your arm off
Day 3—Tuesday
Barely made it in time to the car to head to the UC (University of California) Counselor Conference at UC Santa Barbara, which allows counselors from around the area to come together, network, gather campus info, and hear about all kinds of information that we use to help students who plan to apply to one of the 9 undergrad UC campuses. While on our first break, I ran into my high school counselor (Yay! Love her!), who is currently retired from my district, but is working at a charter school in her new locale in SoCal (do only Northern Californians say that? I would say possibly. Oh, and that rhymes). She ended up joining our group at the lunch and we had a great time…until I had to explain that me and her beloved Ron were no longer together. It was an awkward moment (Boo), but I think we were both graceful about it and got over it. After touring the infamous Del Playa and yet another Starbucks run, we were on our way to San Luis Obispo, which I kept calling Es Elle Oh, until someone told me that the residents just stick with San Luis. Whatever, haters.
No pictures. This was work, after all. Technically.
We made a stop in Pismo Beach, where I got to play in the ocean, and was by far the best part of the trip (Yay!). (I think the next time someone I know heads in that general direction, I must stow away so that I can languish on the beach for hours on end).
In all my excitement, I forgot my camera in the car. Smooth move, Exlax.
Then we headed to McClintock’s Saloon and Dining, where I proceeded to throw down and use my $40 per diem in one sitting (Yay x 4, which is how many times I was able to refill my miniscule martini glass with my Cosmopolitan shaker).
Showin' some love to the buffalo in the bar at McClintock's
Proceeded to Embassy Suites, San Luis (Obispo), which wasn’t as nice as Arcadia, (but was much nicer than Holiday Inn), and I literally left my suitcase in the lobby and headed straight to my room with thoughts of god knows what on my mind (Boo). Thankfully, I had some good looking out on my side, and my colleagues in the other group took it with them. One giggly phone call later, and it was back in my possession (Yay!). After hitting the hot tub, I passed out on the pull out.
Day 4—Wednesday
After another yummy breakfast (Yay!), we drove out to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where we interrupted their Week of Welcome, where they orientate all of the new students before classes begin.
Goddamn, have I shrunk?!
3 things about this campus that has me kicking myself for not even considering it: 1) the weather was phenomenal, 2) yet another campus with a bowling alley, and 3) there is a Starbucks on the campus. In the Student Union. (Which of course, we all utilized). Additionally, I was impressed by the mindfulness of the fact that this is a bunch of 18-25 year olds and therefore there were these:
in the restrooms. From there, I finally took over behind the wheel, and we cruised up the coast to my favorite location ever, Monterey (Yay!).
You wish you were as cool as me
We had some fun at Bubba Gump’s (Yay, Forrest, Yay!)
This was the view from our table at lunch
Again, you know you wish you were cool like me
before heading over to CSU, Monterey Bay, which is on the now defunct Fort Ord.
Ready to get back home, we piled back in the van and I got us safely home (Yay!)
Recap
18.5 Boo’s
20 Yay!’s
5 Starbucks runs
15, Colleges I actually stepped foot on
20, Additional colleges that we drove by (I think this is only funny to the actual road trippers)
12, Times the word “Cougar” was used in a “She’s way to old for him” sense (Again, inside joke, sorry)
47, Pictures taken with my camera
66-98, Temperature range over the 4 days
1008, miles driven
2000, miles walked. Approximately
44, Emails I had in my inbox after 3 school days away
Additionally, I watched virtually no TV, so my viewing schedule is all fucked up. I have no idea what happened on The Hills and I barely caught the final 40 minutes of 90210 Wednesday night as I unpacked. My laundry pile is reaching scary proportions (but probably more because I didn’t do laundry pre-road trip). I need to purchase milk and other essentials, as my fridge just may qualify as a biohazard. I guess I really need to get my shit together.
But I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
